Archive for 'General'

As promised in my recently announced post about me heading off to Switzerland with Nokia Push and their R&D team, I have great pleasure in sharing with you the first video in the Austrian Nokia Push new series of videos showing the Sensors in action after being tested on the Austrian slopes.

I’m so excited to be apart of the alpha testing of these sensors in Switzerland, and will share with you all my experiences, and thoughts on the technology being used here to collect data.

As soon as the project was announced at Nokia World, the team were in a mad rush to get ordering the parts and even had to open a new mailbox to handle the mass of boxes. They were also very curious about how the kit would hold up in the cold and snow! Read on here

Head across to Nokia Push here for more.

Hi all, Micky here from Nokiausers, and NokiaDNA, some of you may already know me from twitter @Mickyfin, but for those that don’t, that’s me in the photo. I’m a self confessed Nokia Enthusiast, and have been interested in Nokia, and gadgets for as long as I can remember.

My first Nokia device was the Matrix Famed handset, the Nokia 8110i back in 1997 whilst I was working out in Switzerland for Nokia at the time. I have been interested in mobiles, and gadgets ever since.

Talking of Switzerland, I have been chosen as a Nokia blogger, to head out to Switzerland with the Nokia Push team, along with members of their Research & Development team to cover the initial alpha Testing of the Nokia Push Snowboard kit

If you have not been following all the latest developments on the Nokia Push blog first of all, shame on you!  Secondly, Nokia Push’s work is nothing short of a gadget fan’s paradise, really! With the various teams really pushing technologies to new levels, and their latest project includes, as documented in the links, sensor boxes which will eventually be integrated into snowboarders’ kit.

These magical sensor boxes, each painstakingly designed, and built, contain a sensor which will record data from the snowboarders moves, jumps and runs and be gathered in such a way that the data can then be used in not just Nokia apps, or future games, but also to help snowboarders better their snowboarding skills and manoeuvres on the slopes, digitally on a computer prior to heading out to the snow covered peaks.

All of the gathered data from the Push Snowboarding kit will also be provided to developers and creative artists for free too, so they can do what they like with it, be it to create realistic snowboarding gameplay, or even to adopt the technology data to other sports, and activities, the opportunities are endless.

So what data do these five sensors fitted to these boxes collect exactly? Well, you will have to wait until Nokia Push give you the full run down on the information, as they have an exciting series of videos to show you all, five videos, each covering one of the five sensors.

What I can tell you though is these sensors have had an extreme amount of work done to them behind the scenes, more than is really appreciated, so its my task in being invited out to Switzerland to cover these in detail for you all.  Keep your eyes peeled right here, and on Nokia Push for the first video in this new series, then remember to come back and check what I, and Nokia Push have gotten up to in Laax, Switzerland.  I promise you there will be lots of videos, photos, and interviews for you to read, and see.

That’s all for now!

Photo Credit

Cloned Nokia handsets have been somewhat of a passion of hate for me over the last few years, especially when these cloned Nokia handsets are sold to unsuspecting consumers as genuine. ·We have seen our fare share of these unhappy buyers too within our very own Nokiausers forums. ·

Members registering to our forums because they either suspect something isn’t quite right with their purchase, or simply put, the device they have does not perform in the way they expected it to work.

Due to seeing so many unhappy members come and go through our forums after buying a cloned Nokia device, I took it upon myself to try and get something done about it, however, cloned Nokia devices, well, any cloned/fake mobile phone for that matter has a massive Global market, which seems to be untouchable. These Chinese factories making cloned mobile phones are as big as the real manufacturing plants, and are governed and protected by mafia type level of security. No joke!

What I did personally, to try and help people not to fall for these fake Nokia handsets, was to educate our forum members on what to look out for with a cloned device, posting photos side by side of cloned device next to a real Nokia handset. ·We first had a stead flow of Nokia N95-1 fake handsets, and then of course, the most troublesome to date, the N95 8GB, with several different level of clones, all ranging from small details added to fool the unsuspecting consumer. ·

The Chinese even hacked an old version of Nokia’s OS, and increased the level of functionality of their clones so that when you entered *#0000# the result that popped up would display a real, valid firmware version. ·This of course eventually fooled even more people, but the likes of myself, and a few other Nokiausers forums members have a very keen eye on protecting our forum members, and are always ready to help anyone should they ever have a question regarding a device before handing over their hard earned.

Now we are seeing cloned devices of the latest Nokia handsets, the N8, the E7, and even the N9. ·So what exactly is Nokia doing about this Global problem? Lets ask them here shall we, and see if we get a reply. ·I had emailed Nokia sometime ago regarding what kind of investigative measures they may have in place to combat these fake, cloned Nokia handsets hitting the mass consumer markets, but back then I didn’t have the reach I do now, so I will certainly be putting this question to them once more very soon. ·Especially after reading the following article, which this post of mine is referring to, it was posted locally on a Swedish website. ·Read for yourselves, excuse the translation, I used Google Translate….

“A 33-year-old Katrineholm to pay more than 60,000Kr in damages and legal costs to the mobile phone manufacturer Nokia. This man then imported 20 counterfeit Nokia products.Related Customs Service seized the 20 mobile phones, which came in the shipment, from China in April this year.

Mobile phones are identical to the Nokia brand, but has not manufactured by them or with their permission.Nokia, which has exclusive rights to the business use of the Nokia brand in Sweden, Katrineholm believe that the author has made trademark infringement or at least contributed to trademark infringement.

33-year-old carries on business in which he imports and sells products, including mobile phones.Stockholm District Court prohibits Katrineholm maker to introduce and sell mobile phones that carry the Nokia brand, which is not manufactured by them or with their permission.

He is also threatened with a fine of 100-000 if he continues with his criminal activities.The 20 mobile phones seized by customs to be destroyed.”

Link to above article - Thanks Tommie

So as you can see, yes this is only a very small number, just 20 fake Nokia handsets, and the importers intent is clear, he obviously was planning on selling these on as genuine handsets to unsuspecting consumers. ·Although a small number, and legal action being taken, I would like to see this kind of investigation escalated on a global level, with teams heading out to China to uncover these factories, and hit the supply at the very heart of their manufacturing processes rather than cherry-picking small, insignificant cases such as the story above.

Over the last few years I have been doing some investigating of my own, and sourced several factories manufacturing cloned devices. ·I published some of my findings here on Nokiausers, and as a result was contacted by the BBC, but after exchanging emails, and some details, answering questions, little to nothing ever come of it sadly.

I have painstakingly gathered photos, which I have learned from, and detailed every single trick in the book these counterfeiters have put into motion for one reason, and one reason only. ·To rip people off, period.! Yes I know some cloned devices suit some people, with dual sim functionality and whatnot, but at the end of the day, these are counterfeit items, and something needs doing about it.

Sadly, all this counterfeiting appears to go on right in front of everyone’s face, blatantly on the web, and links available for all, so even with this transparency, why does counterfeiting continue? Why and how do these counterfeiting rings manufacturer cloned devices before even the real deal are released, where do these counterfeiters get the specifications(external dimensions) etc? ·You see, this process of counterfeiting goes much more deeper than one thinks, with some level of serious leakage from the likes of Nokia internal info, and alike.

As you can probably tell from my tone in writing, and before I turn this post into a rant so to speak, I will end it now, but let me tell you that, I just don’t like to see people ripped off of their hard earned cash, and something needs to be done about it, and I’m ready to join Nokia in their fight to combat, and take these counterfeiting rings down once and for all.! I know its no easy task, and will need Government level support, with policing, and very careful planning, but it can be done, surely? Nokia? 

Following the recent announcements of The Symbian Foundation shutting up shop, and actually closing its online doors on Friday past, you can now find out the latest goings on with Symbian over at the new Symbian home page at www.symbian.nokia.com.

Nokia now plans to make the platform source code for future incrementally improved Symbian releases available to the Symbian technology and business ecosystem. You will be able to find the platform code and details of licensing arrangements through these pages during Q1 of 2011.

Until then, the Symbian Foundation will deliver historical information and the existing open source platform code via an FTP server until March 31, 2011.

During the first quarter of 2011, Nokia will review the existing platform documentation, wiki content, and platform development tools and publish relevant ones through this website.

During the past few months a lot has happened with Symbian. The Nokia N8, the first Symbian^3 smartphone, received record levels of consumer pre-orders and has been shipping for several weeks.  At Nokia World in September we launched three further Symbian^3 smartphones, of which the Nokia C6 and Nokia C7 are also already shipping. We also confirmed our expectation to sell more than 50 million Symbian^3 based devices.

On October 21, Nokia announced the focus on Qt and HTML5 for application development across both our Symbian and Meego based portfolios and our plans to deliver incremental software improvements to existing Symbian^3 based devices.

On November 8, the Symbian Foundation announced that it would be ramping down its operations to continue as a licensing entity for the existing Symbian^2 and Symbian^3 code bases. On the same day Nokia confirmed its ongoing commitment to the Symbian platform.

Checkout the New Official Symbian Blog Welcome page here. Full Press Releases here.

Reuters is reporting that Nokia owned Naveq has purchased the popular mapping company Trapster, the worlds top digital mapping company. 

Trapster, which says it has 9.4 million users, allows users to share locations of police road checks and road hazards.

“Navteq believes that community-generated data has a critical part to play in location content,” a Navteq spokeswoman said.

She declined to provide any financial details. “Its a small deal, even by Navteq standards,” she said. I have to disagree, and say this is big news for Nokia users, and could mean that we could now see full functionality of the Trapster service outside the US.

We will be sure to report any official Nokia press release about this transition as and when if/it arrives.

Hat tip to MobileBurn

Just today I had to go to the hospital for my follow up check up following being equipped with a pair of digital hearing aids recently due to hearing loss, and Tinnitus.  The latter is a form of permanent ringing in both ears, and is quite stressful to say the least.  Anyway, back to my hospital appointment, everything went well, but the one thing I wanted to ask about was a wireless streamer device. 

This wireless streamer device, worn around your neck, basically acts as a go between, connecting your digital hearing aids, and your mobile phone, or any other compatible wireless device, and enables hands free functionality, and can also turn your hearing aids into headphones to listen to your music.  I was introduced to a specific streamer device, quite expensive too, but will be getting one to try after Christmas, but then just this morning, Nokia Conversations, Nokia’s Official Blog, posted a really interesting article about Nokia’s very own version of this type of streamer device, its called the Wireless Loop Set, the LPS-5, and it is compatible with pretty much all Nokia devices with bluetooth, and functions exactly the same as the streamer I mentioned earlier.  

 Obviously, now finding this out, (the last I heard it was simply in the NRD stage) I’m very keen to try out the Wireless Loop set from Nokia, and have asked them for a trial unit to review, so if you too are hard of hearing, you may well be interested in catching my review of the LPS-5 Wireless Loop Set in the coming weeks.

Back to Nokia Conversations post about this new Wireless Loop Set where they have a video (Shown below) of a woman who pretty much suffers from the same as myself, she goes into great detail on how this new Wireless Loop device from Nokia has enriched her daily routine as both a mother with four children, and as a business woman helping her husband, and coordinating building teams who are currently renovating their family home.

Nokia has worked on accessibility concerns for over a decade. We already offer a multitude of accessibility features, accessories and applications. For people with hearing difficulties, Nokia has developed the Nokia Wireless Loopset (LPS-5). In the video, we meet Katja Vis, a Finn who uses this inductive loop for a mobile phone every day, and Mikko Haho, a man from Nokia behind this solution. Watch what kind of difference the Nokia wireless loopset makes in everyday life.

Find out more about Nokia’s efforts into making mobile phones accessible for all.

ClearBlack ensures that the blacks you see really are just that — black — which in turn enhances the contrast of the display and makes the whole screen much easier to see. In this latest Nokia video below, Nokia try to simplify the technologies used in their CBD screens by way of a viral explanation. Enjoy!

ClearBlack display isn’t a completely new type of display technology like AMOLED. It’s actually a method to reduce reflections on the screen and improve visual image quality, especially outdoors. ClearBlack ensures that the blacks you see really are just that – black – which in turn enhances the contrast of the display and makes the whole screen much easier to see. This will be especially useful for apps like Ovi Maps, which are likely to be used outside. Also, sharing pictures or other items on-screen with others will be a lot easier due to the technology that enables excellent viewing angles.

Over on twitter recently Nokia designers were taking Nokia Users questions left right and center, and whilst most of their answers were welcomed, there one one area which was a little grey, and confusing.  When the Nokia designers were asked about producing an high end Nokia device with dual-sim functionality, they answered that in their personal opinion, this is not a viable solution.

Having said the above, this sparked severa blog posts from various Nokia users, and even several top tech sites publishing about it, saying that there is a clear market for an high-end dual-sim handset, even if Nokia cannot see it, there is.  The highest percentage for this void, and potential market is of course in India, and anyone who has their finger on the pulse with India, and Nokia will know that this market is massive, and growing at an alarming rate daily.  One would hope that Nokia realizes this, and fast, as their is certainly many people crying for such a device.

In my recent Interview with a Nokia Enthusiast series of Interviews right here on Nokiausers, one of my questions was referring to an high-end dual-sim Nokia handset, asking my interviewees if they would be interested in such a device should Nokia produce one.  The answers speak for themselves. YES!

As many of you know, I personally am dead against counterfeiting, and the cloning of Nokia devices, but this doesn’t stop me noticing that there are thousands of dual-sim Nokia knock-off devices flooding the market, and its this market many people are being forced to so to take advantage of a mobile device with dual-sim functionality.

Nokia’s own device however that does offer dual-sim functionality is of course the Nokia C1-00, however as the new Nokia numbering system indicates, and of course by looking at this dual-sim handset, you can see its clearly a low-end dual-sim handset entry. What we need to see from Nokia now, is an high-end dual-sim Nokia handset become available, and Nokia, if you are reading this, watch your sales soar.!

About the C1-00, and how it takes advantage of the 2-in-1 Sim Solution….

“By simply holding down a key on the C1-00 with two sim cards fited, people are able to switch between sim cards. This enables them to take advantage of reduced call rates, flexibility when traveling from one country to another, or helps with sharing a phone within a family and still use their own SIM,” said Benoit Nalin, General Manager, Nokia Philippines. “This is a great added convenience feature considering the affordable price of the phone.”

One area, and word missing from the above quote from an article published over at Iewy News is the word “Business”.  Yes, business, this is yet another massive advantage of a dual-sim device in the high-end Nokia mobile portfolio.  Business users will then simply be able to switch easily between their business sim-card, and their personal sim-card all at the hold of a button.

Photo source

Do you like the Nokia C7 touch device?  I know I do, having had one for review recently, its one slick sexy touch device from Nokia for sure.  Do you like competitions?  Well, here is your chance to win a brand new Nokia C7, but not only that, if you win, you will also be awarded an additional 20 Nokia C7 handsets to hand out to your friends.  How cool is that?

This latest competition from Nokia’s facebook page is all about being Social, and ranking in popularity, so if you are not so social, but would still like to be in with the chance to win a Nokia C7 Symbian^3 touch device, then vote for yours truly, Me, here.!

If you do decide to vote for me to win, please leave a comment below stating your Nokiausers forums member name, and should I win, I will send a brand new C7 to 20 Nokiausers members chosen at random, so good luck! Please also leave a comment in this thread in our forums here, this is important, you will need to do this to validate your Nokiausers membership.  If your not a Nokiausers forums member, its completely free to join, and can be set up very easily here.

You can find more details on this competition below.